Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
BRADENTON, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2025) – Ron Capps spoiled Austin Prock’s otherwise perfect week Saturday, beating the reigning NHRA Funny Car Champion and his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS in the final round of the second annual PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
Despite the final round outcome, it was a solid preparatory week for all three of the teams representing John Force Racing in the 20-race NHRA Mission Foods Series that begins March 7-9 with the 56th Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla.
In addition to Prock’s performance, which included a best-in-history 3.791 second run in the final qualifying session, Jack Beckman reached the semifinals from a No. 2 start in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy, and after failing to make the eight-car feature a year ago, Brittany Force put up impressive numbers in the Monster Energy dragster before she, too, exited one round before the big money.
It also was a big week for the team’s founder and CEO, 16-time series champion John Force, who was a welcome presence in the JFR compound even though he still is receiving treatment for the Traumatic Brain Injury he suffered in a crash last June at Richmond, Va.
“My wife, Laurie, told me I needed to get back in the game,” said the 157-time NHRA tour winner. “And being here in Bradenton was just good for my heart. Watching everybody work, watching the cars and the teams and seeing old friends like Capps, it was just special.
“We didn’t win, but I was excited just to be where I need to be,” he said. “Running my teams and supporting Cornwell, PEAK, Monster, HendrickCars.com and all our other partners. I can’t wait to get to Gainesville. To tell you the truth, this is the first time since Richmond I really felt alive again.”
After posting the best number during testing (3.805) and after making the quickest run in each of the four qualifying sessions (3.861, 3.882, 3.860 and the aforementioned 3.791), Prock’s Chevy wasn’t the quickest car in any round on Saturday including the final in which it experienced clutch issues and slowed to 4.003 while Capps powered through to a time of 3.870 at 330.47 mph.
“Another great start to the year,” Prock said. “We made it to the final round and ran some pretty competitive ETs throughout the day (3.876 and 3.883 in the first two rounds). The thing left hard. It was marching but by the time I got past the Christmas Tree, the clutch broke and it was essentially running in neutral all the way down there.
“Tough way to lose,” he said. “But I guess better here than at the NHRA event in a few weeks. Really proud of this Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS team. They did an outstanding job all weekend. We have four people who are in new positions on this team and one of them is totally new to Funny Car racing and they all did a great job.
“Really proud of my crew chiefs, my dad, brother (Thomas) and Nate (Hildahl). This thing was on kill all weekend. To lay down the quickest pass in Funny Car history and to have the fastest one as well, maybe one day we’ll get those two numbers paired up. But great start. We’ve got a lot of work to do in this next month to get ready for Gainesville and I’m chomping at the bit.”
The last Funny Car driver to break 3.80 seconds was Matt Hagan, who ran 3.799 to qualify No. 1 for the Labor Day U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in 2017. The official NHRA record remains 3.793, the time recorded by Prock’s predecessor, JFR President Robert Hight, on Aug. 18, 2017, at Brainerd, Minn.
Last November, Prock equaled the fastest speed in Funny Car history when he accelerated to 341.68 mph at the In-N-Out Burger Finals at Pomona, Calif., setting the official NHRA record in the process. The only other driver to break the 340 barrier is Bob Tasca III, who did so at last year’s PRO Shootout.
Coincidentally, Prock and Tasca were paired in Saturday’s first round through the unique chip draw system the Shootout uses to determine who races whom. Prock powered away in that one, beating Tasca at the start (.056 to .069) and at the finish (3.876. 330.71 mph to 3.917, 324.67 mph).
After qualifying in the No. 3 position, Brittany delivered big in her first round of racing in the Shootout, beating 2023 World Champion Doug Kalitta to the finish, 3.736, 332.08 mph, to 3.768, 325.37 mph. Unfortunately, she ran afoul of Shawn Reed’s .054 reaction time in round two despite a slightly quicker 3.752 track time.
“After this weekend, this Monster Energy, David Grubnic-run team is in a very good place,” said the two-time Top Fuel World Champion who, at Gainesville, will be racing on the track on which she won her very first race in 2016. “We are way ahead of ourselves from where we were last season.
“We were here for five days; we tested all week long and made some killer and consistent passes,” she said. “We qualified third for this PRO Superstar Shootout and made a semifinal appearance.
“We had one of the top-running cars (and) should have turned the win light on in the semifinals, but I was slow off the light,” she said. “That’s something I’ve struggled with, but that’s something I can fix and will figure out going into this season. I’m pumped with this new group and excited to see what we can accomplish.”
Beckman, who was the color commentator at last year’s Superstar Shootout, may not have been as quick this week as his Funny Car teammate and may not have made it to the final round, but he was no less enthusiastic about his race car and the upcoming season, the first in five years in which he will race the entire NHRA schedule in pursuit of a championship he last won in 2012.
“Remember, coming out here was for pre-season testing,” he said. “We brought out a brand-new race car that had never been down the racetrack. We tested superchargers, we tested clutches, we tested some more spare parts. And we get to cross all of that off the list. That’s done; that’s ready to go race.
“We lost a close race against Capps, but we were only a hundredth behind them (3.860, 336.07 mph to 3.871, 330.55 mph) and we didn’t have lane choice,” he said. “Nobody is going to leave here with their head hung low.
“In fact, maybe it gives us a little more extra incentive in four weeks in Gainesville. So, I think this PEAK Chevy SS looked good this weekend. We have one new crew member and he got a chance to get up to speed in race conditions; everything we tested works and now we get to start the season and race for points.”
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BRADENTON, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2025) – Ron Capps spoiled Austin Prock’s otherwise perfect week Saturday, beating the reigning NHRA Funny Car Champion and his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS in the final round of the second annual PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
Despite the final round outcome, it was a solid preparatory week for all three of the teams representing John Force Racing in the 20-race NHRA Mission Foods Series that begins March 7-9 with the 56th Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla.
In addition to Prock’s performance, which included a best-in-history 3.791 second run in the final qualifying session, Jack Beckman reached the semifinals from a No. 2 start in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy, and after failing to make the eight-car feature a year ago, Brittany Force put up impressive numbers in the Monster Energy dragster before she, too, exited one round before the big money.
It also was a big week for the team’s founder and CEO, 16-time series champion John Force, who was a welcome presence in the JFR compound even though he still is receiving treatment for the Traumatic Brain Injury he suffered in a crash last June at Richmond, Va.
“My wife, Laurie, told me I needed to get back in the game,” said the 157-time NHRA tour winner. “And being here in Bradenton was just good for my heart. Watching everybody work, watching the cars and the teams and seeing old friends like Capps, it was just special.
“We didn’t win, but I was excited just to be where I need to be,” he said. “Running my teams and supporting Cornwell, PEAK, Monster, HendrickCars.com and all our other partners. I can’t wait to get to Gainesville. To tell you the truth, this is the first time since Richmond I really felt alive again.”
After posting the best number during testing (3.805) and after making the quickest run in each of the four qualifying sessions (3.861, 3.882, 3.860 and the aforementioned 3.791), Prock’s Chevy wasn’t the quickest car in any round on Saturday including the final in which it experienced clutch issues and slowed to 4.003 while Capps powered through to a time of 3.870 at 330.47 mph.
“Another great start to the year,” Prock said. “We made it to the final round and ran some pretty competitive ETs throughout the day (3.876 and 3.883 in the first two rounds). The thing left hard. It was marching but by the time I got past the Christmas Tree, the clutch broke and it was essentially running in neutral all the way down there.
“Tough way to lose,” he said. “But I guess better here than at the NHRA event in a few weeks. Really proud of this Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS team. They did an outstanding job all weekend. We have four people who are in new positions on this team and one of them is totally new to Funny Car racing and they all did a great job.
“Really proud of my crew chiefs, my dad, brother (Thomas) and Nate (Hildahl). This thing was on kill all weekend. To lay down the quickest pass in Funny Car history and to have the fastest one as well, maybe one day we’ll get those two numbers paired up. But great start. We’ve got a lot of work to do in this next month to get ready for Gainesville and I’m chomping at the bit.”
The last Funny Car driver to break 3.80 seconds was Matt Hagan, who ran 3.799 to qualify No. 1 for the Labor Day U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in 2017. The official NHRA record remains 3.793, the time recorded by Prock’s predecessor, JFR President Robert Hight, on Aug. 18, 2017, at Brainerd, Minn.
Last November, Prock equaled the fastest speed in Funny Car history when he accelerated to 341.68 mph at the In-N-Out Burger Finals at Pomona, Calif., setting the official NHRA record in the process. The only other driver to break the 340 barrier is Bob Tasca III, who did so at last year’s PRO Shootout.
Coincidentally, Prock and Tasca were paired in Saturday’s first round through the unique chip draw system the Shootout uses to determine who races whom. Prock powered away in that one, beating Tasca at the start (.056 to .069) and at the finish (3.876. 330.71 mph to 3.917, 324.67 mph).
After qualifying in the No. 3 position, Brittany delivered big in her first round of racing in the Shootout, beating 2023 World Champion Doug Kalitta to the finish, 3.736, 332.08 mph, to 3.768, 325.37 mph. Unfortunately, she ran afoul of Shawn Reed’s .054 reaction time in round two despite a slightly quicker 3.752 track time.
“After this weekend, this Monster Energy, David Grubnic-run team is in a very good place,” said the two-time Top Fuel World Champion who, at Gainesville, will be racing on the track on which she won her very first race in 2016. “We are way ahead of ourselves from where we were last season.
“We were here for five days; we tested all week long and made some killer and consistent passes,” she said. “We qualified third for this PRO Superstar Shootout and made a semifinal appearance.
“We had one of the top-running cars (and) should have turned the win light on in the semifinals, but I was slow off the light,” she said. “That’s something I’ve struggled with, but that’s something I can fix and will figure out going into this season. I’m pumped with this new group and excited to see what we can accomplish.”
Beckman, who was the color commentator at last year’s Superstar Shootout, may not have been as quick this week as his Funny Car teammate and may not have made it to the final round, but he was no less enthusiastic about his race car and the upcoming season, the first in five years in which he will race the entire NHRA schedule in pursuit of a championship he last won in 2012.
“Remember, coming out here was for pre-season testing,” he said. “We brought out a brand-new race car that had never been down the racetrack. We tested superchargers, we tested clutches, we tested some more spare parts. And we get to cross all of that off the list. That’s done; that’s ready to go race.
“We lost a close race against Capps, but we were only a hundredth behind them (3.860, 336.07 mph to 3.871, 330.55 mph) and we didn’t have lane choice,” he said. “Nobody is going to leave here with their head hung low.
“In fact, maybe it gives us a little more extra incentive in four weeks in Gainesville. So, I think this PEAK Chevy SS looked good this weekend. We have one new crew member and he got a chance to get up to speed in race conditions; everything we tested works and now we get to start the season and race for points.”
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